Surprise may land 150 solar-mirror jobs

Future stimulus funding that will help build a solar project in Arizona could benefit Surprise.

The U.S. Department of Energy has promised nearly $2 billion in "conditional commitments for loan guarantees" to help two renewable-energy companies.

Abengoa Solar Inc., one of the funding recipients, promised to build a plant near Gila Bend, according to a White House statement released July 3. Named the Solana Generating Station, it will be "the first large-scale solar plant in the United States capable of storing the energy it generates," the release said. The project is expected to create about 1,600 construction jobs.

Where's the Surprise connection?

The Solana project will need almost 1 million mirrors, so a mirror plant will be built in Surprise to meet that demand, the White House statement reported. The facility will reportedly create 150 jobs.

Abengoa confirmed in a news release that the mirror factory will be in Surprise. The company's estimate of job creation is almost 180.

Surprise officials neither confirmed nor denied an "imminent agreement to locate a new solar facility in the city," city spokeswoman Diane Arthur wrote in a recent e-mail to The Arizona Republic.

She wrote, "Bringing a solar generating station like Solana to Arizona breeds confidence among other solar companies about what this region has to offer. . . . Surprise has and will continue to speak with solar companies looking to expand and showcase how we are a perfect solar city, offering an eager workforce; an abundance of shovel-ready sites; and a City Council committed to growing this industry."